2009 Honda Pilot Packing and Gas Mileage
Now that Leg 4 of the trip is complete, and we can take a look at how the Pilot fared on mileage and packing. Here’s the damage for the 2009 Honda Pilot Touring:
- 882.9 miles of driving, the longest of the four legs
- 17 hours (split over five days)
- An average of 18.56 mpg
- Roughly 48 gallons of gas consumed
- Average cost of $3.84 a gallon
- Total fuel cost: $182.72
- Highest gas price seen on this leg: $4.05 a gallon in Bolingbrook, Ill. (suburban Chicago)
- Lowest gas price: $3.53 a gallon in Wyethville, Va.
That mileage number makes the Pilot competitive with the other three cars on our vacation, although it clearly had the biggest profile of all four. Only about 80 miles were driven in city traffic, so I didn’t break that mileage out.
The Pilot had some advantages when it came to packing. First of all, there’s a covered well behind the third row, and it was much wider and deeper than those found in the other three cars. We were able to stash our dirty laundry and a bag of games back there, saving valuable room for the other bags (which had grown in number because we picked up some souvenirs along the way).
The 60/40 split for the third row was also a plus, since it let the kid in the last row have a little extra personal space, and we were able to tuck another bag underneath the overhang of the 40% side. Of course, it took us two days back at home before we remembered we’d put that bag there. Luckily there was nothing perishable in it.
That extra storage space kept visibility very good. I had no problem seeing out any of the rear windows, and as I mentioned before, the DVD screen rarely obscured my vision.
Next up, I’ll canvass the wife and kids to see which of the four cars they liked best, and we’ll tally up all the pertinent numbers for our trip.
